St. Elsewhere

Sister Dominica, a strong-willed Mother Superior, insists that Dr. Westphall pull the plug on a fellow nun whose injuries will leave her in a coma for life.

Dr. Westphall reveals a painful experience to sister Dominica to explain why he resists her attempt to stop the life-support system of a nun with irreversible brain damage.

The nurses make good on their pledge to strike, as their walkout leaves the rest of the staff even more overburdened. Craig elects to sleep alone at the hospital rather than face his sex problem with his wife; and Cavanero is attacked by a ski-masked man, making White the natural suspect.

Auschlander has a tough decision to make during the divisive nurses’ strike when the major threatens to shut down St. Eligius in forty-eight hours if no settlement is reached, and a nervous Ehrlich must solo during a tricky emergency operation.

A priggish Ehrlich may find true love after all, and the strike negotiator who helped end the nurses’ walkout asks out the married Rosenthal.

After locating his missing wife and children, White has a poignant reunion with them and intends to make it permanent. Fired hospital administrator Joan Halloran is re-hired as Auschlander’s assistant, and Nurse Rosenthal’s affair with a labor negotiator heats up.

St. Eligius Hospital reels after the shooting of a doctor, who lies near death, as the police include Westphall among their suspects.

A Filipino man’s mysterious death is attributed to an exotic native syndrome; Westphall’s lack of ZZZs propels him into anxiety attacks; a man’s annoying sleep apnea (temporary suspension of respiration) has his wife dreaming of divorce; and Ehrlich is tossed out of surgery for hogging the jokes.

A new female doctor, specializing in bone-marrow transplants, draws attention from the male doctors.

Cavanero secretly admits that a female doctor who’s a guest at her apartment is homosexual, and the news hits the rumor mill.

A father grows weaker as his ailing young daughter becomes stronger during a connecting process using his liver to help hers recover; an anxious Axelrod has a whole floor under his care during night shift; and Rosenthal’s lover ponders divorcing his wife.

Westphall reluctantly realizes he must send his autistic son away for specialized help, thereby drawing his daughter’s bitter resentment.

The life of a regretful Rosenthal begins to unravel when the vengeful wife of her illicit lover goes on a slanderous rampage; Mrs. Hufnagel, a nettlesome patient, is re-admitted, causing poor Elliot more consternation; and Ehrlich tries to make his television “Healthspots” grittier with squeamish results.

A bigamist being treated for pneumonia puts Chandler in a compromising position when two of his concerned, and unknowing, wives show up.

Dr. Wyler prepares to return to Africa when he learns that his clinic has been destroyed by hostile government soldiers - even though it could mean his death.

Craig’s thirtieth wedding anniversary party marks the return of his vagabond brother William, thereby re-opening old sibling wounds.

Suffering from freshman blues, Dr. Westphall’s daughter Elizabeth returns home and asks to stay, a parental dilemma that forces the physician to make a painful decision.

A pregnant 14-year-old prostitute suffers complications giving birth as her boyfriend heads south, Peter White’s widow enters labor with his child, and a traffic helicopter crash leaves the sole survivor wondering why he was spared.

Westphall renews an old friendship with an attractive White House staff doctor who arranges to make St. Eligius a receiving hospital when the First Lady visits Boston.

The moment of truth arrives for Caldwell when he removes the surgical bandages of a young woman disfigured by “Elephant Man’s” disease. Meanwhile, the pesky Mrs. Hufnagel goes under the knife for removal of an aneurysm and Rosenthal tells her lover that she’s pregnant.

An indignant Dr. Craig is on the warpath to find out which doctor is responsible for an abusive patient’s sudden death.

An overworked Morrison is in poor shape to take the demanding state medical exams. Chandler tries to convince a clown that she should retire from the circus because of her deteriorating condition, due to multiple sclerosis.

Luther loses his sense of hearing in a boiler explosion that kills a fellow worker. A helpful Halloran looks to uncork some emotion out of an overworked Dr. Morrison. Ehrlich lamely tries to impress some visiting Chinese doctors with his sweet-and-sour humor.

Drs. Westphall, Craig and Auschlander share their mutual sorrows at the Cheers Bar in Boston. However their encounter with Carla, Cliff and Norm makes them yearn for a saloon where everybody doesn’t know their names.